Equivalent circuits of FeCoZr-alloy nanoparticles deposited into Al2O3 and PZT dielectric matrices nanogranular composite films

The paper presents equivalent substitution circuits (ESCs) describing nanogranular composite films (Fe0.45Cо0.45Zr0.10)x(Al2O3)1 – x and (Fe0.45Cо0.45Zr0.10)x(PZT)1 – x with a concentration of metal-containing granules in the range 0.3 < х < 0.8. Films of 2–7 μm thick were obtained by ion-beam sputtering of composite targets in pure argon or in Ar – O2 mixture, followed by stepwise (with a step of 25 K) isochronous (15 min) annealing in air in the temperature range of 398 – 873 K. Deposition of nanocomposites in an oxygen-containing atmosphere or subsequent annealing in air led to the formation of nanoparticles with a core – shell structure consisting of Fe0.45Cо0.45Zr0.10 metallic alloy cores coated with shells of native iron and cobalt oxides (FeO, Fe3O4, Fe2O3, CoO). It has been established that when such shells contain semiconductor-type iron oxides (like FeO and Fe3O4) the frequency dependences of the total impedance Z (f, T) of nanocomposites can be described using ESCs containing two resonant RCL-circuits, that is accompanied by a positive phase shift of the current relative to the applied bias voltage (the so-called negative capacitance effect). The prevailing of dielectric-like oxides (Fe2O3) in shells around metallic cores leads to ESCs either with one resonant RCL-circuit or without it at all. This results in disappearing of the negative capacitance effect when usual capacitive-like behaviour of nanocomposite behaviour is observed. It is shown that if we construct ESCs for nanocomposites with different ratios of the metallic (FeCoZr) and dielectric (Al2O3, PZT) components, it is possible to describe the Z (f, T) dependences for every circuit elements (R, C, L) corresponding both to individual phase components in nanocomposites including intrinsic semiconductor- or dielectric-like iron and cobalt oxides in shells around metallic cores.